Watch: Intelligent Cities – Smart Cities – Innovation Ecosystems

The Cities Coalition for Digital Rights marks the first international agreement between cities to develop policies to protect their citizens’ internet privacy. The coalition was introduced at the Smart Cities Expo World Congress in Barcelona, and was signed by Barcelona, New York and Amsterdam. The joint initiative will promote and track progress in protecting residents’ and visitors’ digital rights.

Motivated by the worldwide implementation of smart city projects (SCPs) combined with the need for an assessment tool for these projects, a group of researchers from the Technical University of Madrid (Victoria Fernandez-Anez, Guillermo Velazquez, Fiamma Perez-Prada and Andrés Monzón) propose Smart City Projects Assessment Matrix (SC[PAM]). It is about a holistic approach on not only assessing smart city initiatives through SCPs, but also establishing relationships between the effects of smart city strategies and the current urban challenges.

In early November, the Center for Digital Government (CDG) announced the winners of the 2018 Digital Cities Survey, running for the 18th year and recognizing US cities which use technology to make better use of their resources in ways such as tackling social challenges, enhancing cybersecurity, improving transparency etc.

Artificial Intelligence can play an important role in the development of Smart Cities. This is a part of the vision to transform Thailand’s economy into an innovation-driven economy, as a part of the Thailand 4.0 Initiative, which includes the creation of 100 Smart Cities within two decades, in order to improve citizens’ quality of life.

As the robot industry develops and debates on the ‘rise of the robots’ increase at a global level, Centre for Cities explores how automation and artificial intelligence could transform UK cities. Their research shows that some cities will be more vulnerable than others and that, without concerted action, socio-economic divides across the country are likely to widen. Stressing the need to understand the deeper meaning of these changes, the authors explore how the skill system adapts to respond to these changes.

The Internet of things (IoT) is a popular term used to describe a network of physical devices connected with each other to exchange the data they collect. IoT devices are becoming widespread on a consumer level, making peoples’ lives more efficient. Used on a city level, however, the IoT can help make Smart Cities green and eco-friendly.

This white paper is a modular tool for public, private, and government sectors designing processes of public participation in smart city planning. Rather than governments and corporations embracing smart technologies in search of problems, a civic smart city works with citizens to define problems, and reflect on potential solutions, before implementing new technologies. It is a collaborative work between the Engagement Lab at Emerson College, the City as Platform Lab at the University of Waterloo, and the Center for Smart Cities and Regions at Arizona State University.